However, the preparation of detailed plans and permits delayed the estimated start of construction to July 1914, which meant the tunnel could not be completed in time to service the Exposition, and the project was killed in September 1913.

[3] In addition to the temporary benefit to speed traffic to and from the PPIE, the Fillmore Tunnel was expected to spur development along the northern waterfront for trade via the Panama Canal and to shorten the commute from the Marin County suburbs.

[4] The modest cottages, the old-fashioned residences that now dot the Harbor View district will in time give way to modern apartment houses, hotels, office buildings and mercantile structures.

Harbor View, once a dreary waste of swamp, the dumping ground of refuse, the "cow hollow" of the past, is destined in a few short years to be the scene of swarming commercial activity.

While Steiner Street proponents declared their tunnel would be shorter and less expensive, the FSIA argued that tradition and existing streetcar routes favored their proposal.

[8] By February, the Fillmore alignment was being favored over competing parallel routes along Steiner, Pierce, and Divisadero; however, the land and tunnels committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors delayed their official endorsement of the Fillmore Street Tunnel proposal while awaiting the results of consultant Bion J. Arnold's study;[9] Arnold declared his support in March 1912 via telegram.

[16] In April 1912, the PPIE Company declined a tunnel assessment cost-sharing proposal, stating their budget was reserved for construction of buildings and grounds for the Exposition.

[18] The competing Devisadero [sic] Street Improvement Association also filed a protest over their inclusion in the special assessment district, stating they would receive no benefit and promoting their alignment instead.

[20] By September 1912, the preliminary engineering design was complete and legal work began to acquire the properties needed to widen Fillmore at the north and south portals.

[5] In December, the San Francisco Call reported that plans for the Fillmore Street Tunnel were almost completed, and estimated that construction would begin the following Spring; according to City Engineer M.M.

[24]: 218–9  In May 1913, the lands and tunnels committee were beset by property owners in the special assessment districts demanding to know what their levies would be, bringing further progress to a halt.